1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to battery covers, and more particularly to flexible, insulative battery covers.
2. Related Art
A thermal insulator is generally needed to insulate a battery, such as a vehicle battery, from thermal degradation. Rigid plastic covers are commonly used to protect batteries; however, they are relatively heavy, and in addition, typically do not protect a battery against thermal conditions. Accordingly, rigid plastic covers generally do not provide the degree of insulation required to protect the battery against thermal degradation, thereby allowing the useful life of the battery to be reduced. In addition, rigid plastic battery covers are inflexible, generally bulky and cumbersome to ship, and in addition, occupy valuable storage space, thereby increasing shipping and inventory cost.
In addition to rigid plastic covers, generally tubular, nonwoven mats are also used to cover the sides of batteries, wherein the nonwoven mats having open ends, thereby leaving the bottom and top of the battery exposed to environmental conditions. In addition, it is known to cover a top of the battery with a separate piece of material, however, this introduces significant added cost, as a plurality of fasteners are needed to secure the separate piece of material to the nonwoven mat surrounding the sides of the battery. In addition, further cost is added due to the need to inventory separate battery cover components, including the separate pieces of batter cover materials, as well as the fasteners.